Short-Term Rental and Airbnb Safety+Security: How to Avoid Parties & Fraud
In crazy times, like COVID-19 and civil unrest, parties and fraud are a BIG problem. If you are not careful and diligent with your potential guests, you are opening your home up to disrespect and potential destruction.
Safety and Security in your Airbnb and VRBO is especially an issue right now because of the lower demand in major Cities. Due to less travel demand, hosts are forced to drop rates to get bookings. With lower rate Airbnbs and VRBOs are more susceptible to parties and potential fraud because lower prices typically opens your home to lower quality guests.
While many Airbnb hosts may be hurting financially, it is not time to become lax with your guest standards. Here are sure-proof ways to protect yourself and your Airbnb from parties and fraud:
Do not allow 1-night stay
1-night stays are almost always trouble, unless guests have a good reason for them. Some guests may have missed their flight or have to stay in the area for an extra day because of work. For the most part, allowing 1-night stays is a "green light" for potential partiers.
Require verifications (especially Government Identification)
Verifications are important to prevent fraud. Through Airbnb, you may ask potential guests to verify with their email, social channels (Google & Facebook), or government ID. Verifying an email is okay, social channels is better because you may search them after a confirmed booking, and government ID is best.
Require a minimum age
This is a simple one, but a good one to keep in your House Rules. Younger groups tend to be more prone to parties, versus older groups or families.
Require the names of all parties
Having all of the names of the group allows you to keep everyone accountable. It also allows you to search all of the names to make sure they are all not troublesome.
Set clear expectations and robust House Rules
Set clear expectations when talking to inquiring guests. Make it clear to your guests that your house rules are serious and ask them if they've read over them. Most people say yes without reading them so you want to make sure you have a robust set of House Rules (with fines!)
Airbnb requires guests to read the house rules before booking. Some of our house rules include a $500 smoking fee and a $500 party fee. It also outlines the costs if items are damaged and if items are left behind. Being thorough here will save you A LOT of money when speaking to Airbnb or VRBO case managers. Click here to learn how to edit your House Rules.
Do a Google and/or Facebook search of the guest(s)
Doing a simple Google search can help you further vet your guests. We've done some Google searches and found that potential guests had criminal records. We did not feel comfortable with this and Airbnb helped us cancel them. Doing a Facebook search can give you further information on the potential guests
Do not allow local guests, unless they've reason to stay at your home & can provide proof
95% of local guests already have a home in your market. If this is the case, why would they need to rent your home? Most often it is because they want to throw a party or event.
This is one of our TOP House Rules. Avoid the trouble you see in the news with "Airbnb Party Homes" by adhering to this rule.
With the above noted, also know that some local guests are in transition. They may have a leak or termites in their home, or they might have recently sold their home so they need a temporary space. Be open, but ere on the side of caution with local guests. Be sure to check the area code of their phone numbers too!
Verify that the phone number they are using is correct. Call them!
When you call a guest, you are likely to get more accurate intel on the motive of their stay. Most guests are honest with their reason for staying, but not all of them! Call them and ask simple vetting questions to feel them out.
Ask them "vetting" questions
These questions should go in your pre-booking message. If guests do not answer this when they book/inquire, than it is a yellow flag to start. Ask specific questions, like :
Why are you coming to town?
What are your plans?
How many people will be staying?
Do you plan on having any guests over while you’re staying here? We do not recommend having local guests over, especially during COVID-time.
Require a profile picture
Make sure it is a frontal profile picture of the person booking. Do this so you can verify them when they arrive at your home
Do not allow guests to book for other guests
Sometimes people try to book for their friends or family. It is a security risk for you and makes communication more difficult. Unless it is done through a professional travel agent, than your best course of action is to ask them to have the guest book directly.
Require that the guest has previous (positive!) reviews from other hosts
This is not a necessity, but definitely something to consider. If guests have bad reviews in the past, ask them about them or simply decline them. We ALWAYS would rather have peace of mind with a quality guest, than make a few extra bucks and get your home trashed.
Direct all communication and payments through the booking channels
This helps you avoid fraud. Airbnb also requires this. If you try to book off-platform, Airbnb may even kick you off. We see this happen often times on VRBO, where a fraudster ask you to call them because their "company" is taking care of it. Do not fall for these tricks, process all payments through the platforms, unless it's a returning guest or a very legitimate guest.
Use a noise monitoring system
Noise monitoring systems help protect your home without having to intrude on your guests. Once guests make a certain amount of decibel noise, you are notified and can take action to clamp down the noise. The top brands are Minut, NoiseAware, and Roomonitor. You are learn more about them to keep your space party-free HERE.
Parties and fraud are bad for everyone. They are bad for you, they are bad for the host community, and they are especially bad for the local neighborhood. Use the tips above to protect your homes, and host guests safely+securely.